There is no easier way to explain what this new book is about than by quoting from the Introduction:

***

In his 1917 book ‘Chats on Japanese Prints’, Arthur Ficke discussed the relative merits of collections being held by major institutions vs private hands: “Prints are inherently suited to private exhibition, and not to public display. To sit in the library of the collector and inspect and discuss the prints one by one is a great delight.“

It must indeed have been a wonderful experience to sit in his library and have him show you the masterpieces from his collection - the rare Sharaku actor prints, the large Kaigetsudo courtesans, and the astonishingly delicate early Harunobu impressions. But how many of us can ever hope to duplicate such an experience? Ficke went on to say, “Any person who gives evidence of a reasonable degree of interest ... may have at his disposal the services of the owner of the collection to explain, interpret, and guide,“ but these days, as those wonderful collections amassed by the famous early-day collectors are now held tightly in the vaults of museums, such opportunities have become practically non-existent.

A short time ago a reporter from a Tokyo newspaper was visiting me, and before heading down to my workshop, we sat for a while in my own ‘library’ and looked at some prints. We ended up pretty much forgetting about the interview, and a couple of hours later, the small table in the room had become piled high with the books and print folders that we had examined together. I had not been able to show him any original Sharaku or Kaigetsudo prints, but the things that we looked at had plenty to offer, in terms of both beauty and general interest.

This little book is an attempt to re-create that kind of experience. I have selected ten items from my (modest) collection, and am presenting them here for your enjoyment. The prints are shown to you under a natural illumination, and each one is accompanied by an audio recording: “... the services of the owner of the collection to explain, interpret, and guide.”

This may seem a bit ‘one-sided’, after all, I am here and you are there, so it might seem as though our ‘conversation’ must inevitably be one-way. To get around this barrier, I have created a web page to accompany this book, by means of which readers can ask questions, or make comments on what they have seen. It will be a slow conversation, but that’s the way it should be. These prints have an astonishing amount of depth to them, and it is best that we enjoy them at a pace that acknowledges and respects this.

I never get more pleasure out of my print collection than on those occasions when I can sit down and show some favourite items to an equally enthusiastic visitor. Thank you for being ‘with me’ today.

Now ... is your room darkened? You are in ‘Full Screen mode? Got your headphones on? Good! Please turn the page and let’s get started!

***

I think you get the idea. This is 'David's Choice': a personalized visit to my print room, where you can have a guided tour of some of the interesting items from my collection ... The book is now ready, and can be purchased from this page of my Mokuhankan web shop.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:47 am

Tom Kristensen

Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:14 pmPosts: 21

Re: Introducing 'David's Choice' - the book is now ready!

Hey Dave,

I seem to have lost the link to David's Choice ebook - those barenforum posts don't stick around long in my email folder. It might be a good idea that the list of titles, ie the images on the main banner, link through to the download page. A return customer, like me, might not be aware of new titles and stumble across them through this forum, in which case they ought to be encouraged to shop from here.

Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:07 am

David Bull

Site Admin

Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:30 pmPosts: 194Location: Tokyo, Japan

Re: Introducing 'David's Choice' - the book is now ready!

Hee-hee ... Tom, the link is (repeated) in the last line of the post directly above yours ...

And from any place in the Mokuhankan system, searching for 'books' will turn them all up. But I agree, this thing is kind of growing in a bit of an unplanned manner, so I'll have to sort out a better way to make sure people can find things ...

Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:16 am

Tom Kristensen

Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:14 pmPosts: 21

Re: Introducing 'David's Choice' - the book is now ready!

Perfect.. The big illustrated icon wins my vote. I have this forum bookmarked, so I drop by occasionally and check for new posts, if you have produced a new title it will be right there under my nose.

Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:57 pm

David Bull

Site Admin

Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:30 pmPosts: 194Location: Tokyo, Japan

Re: Introducing 'David's Choice' - the book is now ready!

Tom Kristensen wrote:

I have this forum bookmarked, so I drop by occasionally and check for new posts ...

Although I haven't yet figured out how to run an RSS feed for this set of forums, you can set 'notifications', so that you are automatically notified when there are new posts.

This happens automatically for a thread in which you post something yourself, but you can also set it up to let you know about new threads starting up.

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